


Found

by ghostwriter00797



Series: Redemption AU [3]
Category: Dino Squad
Genre: At least in immortal standards, Especially Max, Gen, He's really reluctant to admit defeat, I have basically set canon on fire, I headcanon that he was a lot younger when the asteroid hit, Joanne is just happy he's back, Like REALLY reluctant, Oops, Redemption AU, The squad is protective, The squad? Not so much, Victor is pretty much a teenager, Victor really has no clue why he's doing this, and Moynihan raised him, this is a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-02 08:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11505627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostwriter00797/pseuds/ghostwriter00797
Summary: Finding the whereabouts of Joanne Moynihan has been entirely too easy, and it leaves Victor reluctant to return to her. Of course, he somehow still ends up in Kittery Point. A part of him that he doesn't understand drives him to her doorstep, and he has to face Joanne once more. Of course, her students may end up being more of a challenge than his former caretaker at this point...





	1. In Which Victor is Still in Denial and Mr. Harrison is Right.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this was supposed to be a oneshot, but I ended up making a smaller kind-of-prologue and then I'm working on the actual 'confrontation' part that should hopefully be much longer. I have also probably set the canon on fire at this point because I have the feeling that all of the characters will be nothing but my personal headcanons and improvements onto certain parts while ignoring others from the show. I don't really know how it'll turn out in the long haul, but it ought to be interesting.

Six months. It had taken Harrison six months to find the most likely candidate. A Ms. Joanne Moynihan of Kittery Point, Maine.

“And you’re confident that this could be her?”

Harrison almost looks offended. He hands over a thick manilla folder, rough with wear.

“I spent a good three months following this lady. Talked to all the locals and the high school staff. Recorded everything and transcribed it like you asked, and I’m telling you it  _ is _ her. No doubt about it. She just showed up forty years ago, supposedly fresh out of college, and bought the Kittery Point Lighthouse. The staff that hired her are either retired or dead, but she’s been teaching for the entire time.”

The raise of a brow is enough to convey the disbelief. Setting the folder down on his desk, Victor finds himself hoping that Harrison has failed.

“Okay, so that may not sound like much. I know. The kicker comes from observing her day to day. I told you she’s a teacher, biology to be precise, and she spends a lot of time with five of her students. They’re at that lighthouse of hers nearly every day without fail. I couldn’t get too close, but there’s something about her. Every bug I’ve placed has gone dead before five minutes have passed. I swear that at least one of her students has eyes on me every time I’m in town. There have been times that she looked right into the camera and smiled, even when she shouldn’t have been able to see me. She looked me dead in the eyes once, while I was staking out the school, and, no offense, but it felt like facing you during one of your moods. And if you don’t think that any of that is suspicious enough, she keeps a mutated dog that seems to be able to shift at will. I would know, the thing chased me enough times.”

He shifts, uncomfortably aware of the certainty in the man’s voice. Harrison’s eyes are blazing with conviction, even if his voice is seemingly calm. He can see the grip on the armrests of the chair, the eye contact, everything that Harrison does when bringing back a successful find or a successful hunch.

“None of this is anything but circumstantial evidence. Are there any other candidates? Surely there are others that you have actual proof on?”

A sigh escapes the other. Harrison opens the folder, and out spill dozens upon dozens of photographs. The man sifts through them, leaning almost uncomfortably close over the desk. After a minute he seems to have found his target, holding it out to Victor

“Here. It’s blurry and I got it at night, but I swear that this is her. I know you aren’t convinced, but I’m telling you that she’s the only one.”

The ice that has slowly been crawling up his spine quickens its pace. The photograph is almost distorted from the blur, but he can see the distinctive coloring.

“ _ Sir. _ ”

He stands slowly, grasping the picture. Victor doesn’t want to do this, doesn’t want to admit defeat, doesn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that she was right. 

“Thank you Mr. Harrison. You may go.”

The man’s face is twisted in worry, hand still outstretched over the desk, but he complies. Victor doesn’t dare look up until he hears the slam of the penthouse door. It’s surreal, how fast his best investigator was able to find her. He wonders if she made it easy on purpose, if she knows.

    He’s on the road an hour later.


	2. A New Beginning (or the one in which Victor finally gets on with it.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor has found his way to Kittery Point sooner than he thought he would. Now all he has to do is get over his reluctancy and take the plunge.

    At noon, he arrives in Kittery Point. It doesn’t take long to check in and get a room. For a moment, Victor really takes in how surreal this all is. He’s lying down in a cheap hotel room not even ten minutes from a woman that may or may not be Joanne, and he’s _nervous_. He hasn’t felt this way in years. For a moment he considers grabbing his luggage and leaving. There’s still daylight, and he could make it back to the penthouse before three in the evening if the traffic was optimal. There were projects to be supervised, experiments to perform-

    He stops that train of thought rather abruptly. He’d stepped down from being CEO of Raptor-dyne, which was in ruins anyway. He had a clear schedule for the rest of the foreseeable future. Victor wants to hide until he can restart his operations without scrutiny, but there is a part of him that won’t let that happen. It is that part that drives him to get up and move. He pulls his hair back, changing into the most casual set of clothing that he has, and tops all of it off with a pair of sunglasses. He knows it isn’t likely to fool anyone that gets close enough, but Victor doesn’t have time to stop and chat. He takes his key and goes.

    The air in Kittery Point is warm, smelling of the ocean, and it makes the walk to the lighthouse a bit easier on the nerves. The soft scuff of his shoes against the pavement is comforting to a point, giving him something to focus on. Then that pavement transitions into a dirt road, packed down by years of wear. He stops, knowing that a place this remote would likely not have much interference, and shifts. Victor takes a breath and his heart begins to race. He knows that scent. This really is her. Shifting back, he continues. Ringing that doorbell is one of the hardest things he’s done in a long time. A moment passes, and then the door opens.

“May I help you?”

    He doesn’t know if he is thankful or frustrated at this point. The boy in front of him is likely one of the five students Harrison had noticed, and Victor knows that he has been recognized. The door is only open a fraction, the boy holding it tense.

“Is this the residence of Joanne Moynihan?”

    He does his best to sound calm, collected, and as nonthreatening as possible. If anything, the child only tenses further.

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken sir.”

    Ice cold words, a flat denial that has Victor catching the door before it can close.

“Listen, child. I need to speak with her.”

    He should back down. He could admit defeat here, say that he was deterred. The part of him that forced him to this place screams in defiance.

“Max, who is it?”

    Her voice hits him like a freight train. It’s been _so long_ since he last heard her and she still sounds the same. He lets go of the door, leaning back and trying to make sure that the tension doesn’t show. She comes into view, obviously having taken an older version of her favorite form. Not for the first time he wonders if she knew all along.

“Joanne-”

    There is warmth in her eyes, familiar, that takes him back to the days he was just a nestling. Those times when he was still learning about the world and the humans and what had happened to their kind.

“I’ve been waiting for you Victor. Come in. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

    The boy at the door looks almost as shocked as Victor feels. He shouldn’t be too surprised, she did raise him after all. For a moment it seems like time has frozen, giving him one last chance to back out and leave.

He moves forward.


End file.
